'Vote Chori': No wrongful deletion of electors in Karnataka's Aland, FIR filed in 2023, says ECI

New Delhi/Bengaluru, Sep 19 (IANS) Responding to allegations of Rahul Gandhi regarding deletions of eligible voters in the Aland Assembly Constituency of Karnataka, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has clarified that no deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public.

Apurva Kumar Singh, Assistant Director of the ECI, stated on Friday, "No wrongful deletion of electors in Aland, and an FIR was registered by the authority of ECI itself in 2023 against suspicious attempt of deletions.”

He stated," Although the Elector of the constituency can fill Form 7 online to apply for deletion of an entry from that particular constituency, it does not mean that the entry gets automatically deleted merely by submitting the Form 7."

As per the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, no name is deleted from the roll without issuing a notice to the affected person and giving him an opportunity of being heard, he clarified.

In the case of Aland, Karnataka, 6,018 applications in Form 7 for deletion were submitted online. On verification, only 24 applications were found to be genuine, while 5,994 were found to be incorrect. Accordingly, 24 applications were accepted, and the 5,994 incorrect applications were rejected, Apurva Kumar Singh stated.

Suspecting the genuineness of such a large number of applications for deletion, an inquiry was conducted, and subsequently an FIR was registered at the Aland Police Station, on February 21, 2023, by the Electoral Registration Officer, Aland, he said.

"Based on the instructions of the ECI, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, handed over all available information with the Commission to the Superintendent of Police, Kalaburagi district, on Sept 6, 2023, for completing the investigation.

The shared information included objector details such as Form Reference Number, name of the objector, EPIC number, mobile number used for login, mobile number provided for processing, software application medium, IP address, applicant place, form submission date and time, and user creation date," he stated.

The CEO, Karnataka, has been providing continuous assistance, including any further information and documents, to the investigating agency, he said.

As per records, Aland Assembly Constituency was won by Subhadh Guttedar (BJP) in 2018 and B. R. Patil (INC) in 2023, he pointed out.

In the case of Rajura, Chandrapur, Maharashtra, a total of 7,792 applications for new voter registration were received. On verification, 6,861 applications were found invalid and got rejected, he said.

Suspecting the genuineness of such a large number of applications for addition, an inquiry was conducted by the Electoral Registration Officer, Rajura, and subsequently a case was registered at Rajura Police Station, he said.

"Electoral Rolls are prepared in accordance with law, and any correction, deletion, or inclusion in the Electoral Roll can always be made as per the procedure laid down in law. Election Commission of India aims to ensure that every eligible elector is enrolled in the Electoral Roll and no ineligible person is enrolled," Apurva Kumar Singh stated.

--IANS

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